Singapore (again)

Always a good place to visit, even if it is on the way back home.

Lot's of good food in Singapore ... I've only had one bad meal here, which was, oddly enough, at a place recommended by a German colleague. That will teach me.

The Merlion, pictured here, is a symbol of the city. The fountain here seems to be a popular place for just-married couples to visit ... note the bride and groom here.

Jakarta

That's pretty much all I saw between my hotel room, the office, and the airport. Lots of traffic. Spent more time getting to and from the airport than I spent in the actual meeting. Ah, the joys of business travel.

Do you suppose that ...

there are a few insecurity issues down under?

I was going to make a few jokes with some other shots, but it gets old quickly. Anyway, this is the ferry stop for Manly Beach, somewhat famous, though not the world famous beach (Bondi) to which I referred in my last post. It's a nice beach and a nice town only 30 minutes by boat to the heart of downtown Sydney.

The Partnerin used to live here when she was an expat in Australia ... that is her building on the left at the end of the beach. Rough life, right?

Manly, like Bondi, is not a very long beach. You saw the stretch in the shot above, now add it to the stretch in the other direction shown here, if you can see the end here. Not too many swimmers here today due to this being Autumn down under, but plenty of surfers.

Finally, I mentioned the bridge climb. I'm only here a few days and had too many things to do, so I didn't get a chance to do it this time around. But that didn't stop hundreds of others ... see those little dots on the arches of the bridge? Those are packs of people doing the bridge climb. In grey jump suits tethered to safety lines. The Australians ... ok that is a generalisation ... Many Australians, but not necessarily all or even a majortity of them, are big on safety, which is sensible, but somehow seems out of sync with their reputation.

Where in the World is Mikey This Week? II

OK, this one is easier. Too easy. Can't really think of a prize that won't give it away, so how about a jar of vegemite. Yumm! Contest rules below.

One of my dinner companions asked me what I thought about one of the world-famous local beaches, and I made the mistake of speaking the truth ... "It's much smaller than I thought it would be."

That led to an earful of how ratty my friend found certain US beaches, including one I used to live on in Florida that is at least 20KM long and has far whiter and cleaner sand, better waves, less risk of great white sharks, and a not quite as ratty town behind it. Ah, the stuff from which legends are made.

Then, switching gears back into a friendly mode, came the next question ... "What did you think of the bridge?"

"Wonderful! Very nicely lit. I'm thinking about taking the bridge climb tour this week so I can take in the whole harbour."

Well chosen words indeed ... I got to eat my steak in peace as the locals basked in the glow of such praise.

Don't get me wrong, I like it here ... it's like California without the drive-by's.

Where in the World is Mikey This Week?

OK ... sorry for not providing anything interesting lately, but I have been travelling ... heavily. Meaning a lot, and with a lot of baggage, but the latter statement is something that can be overanalyzed some other time.

In the meantime, I was here last week. I'm in an airport lounge with wireless access and time to kill, so I can actually post something this week.

So , guess where this was and we'll figure out a prize ... maybe a free pack of frozen dim sum. See the contest rules at the bottom.